FVSO will perform a concert with the theme ‘Transcendence’ at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford on Saturday, May. 18.

Submitted

“Transcendence” is the theme of the final classical concert of the current season by the Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, May 18, 3 p.m. at the Hoffman Auditorium, Bruyette Athenaeum of the University of Saint Joseph, 1678 Asylum Ave., West Hartford.

FVSO Music Director Jonathan Colby will conduct the performance of late 19th-century music of great emotional power by Tchaikovsky, Amy Beach, and Richard Strauss.

Soprano Lisabeth Miller will be the guest soloist for “Three Browning Songs” by American composer and pianist Amy Beach.  Miller, well-known to area concert-goers, is music director at Old St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Bloomfield, and teaches voice at the Hartt School of Music of the University of Hartford.

Amy Beach was the first woman to have a symphony premiered by a major U.S. orchestra – her Symphony No. 2, “Gaelic,” by the Boston Symphony in 1894. She was also a highly sought-after concert pianist and composed a number of art songs for solo voice, including the three songs with texts by Robert Browning, commissioned by the Browning Society of Boston.  Originally written for voice and piano, the FVSO performance will be presented with a new orchestration by Music Director Jonathan Colby.

Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture” will open the program. The FVSO will present the seldom-performed first version (1869) of the work.  Despite the composer’s powerful original themes movingly expressed in the original version, the overture was not well-received by Russian conductor and composer Mily Balakirev for whom it was commissioned. It was only after the piece received extensive revisions that it became a staple of the concert hall.

The magnificent and emotional 1889 tone poem, “Death and Transfiguration” by Richard Strauss, which depicts the life of an artist from infancy through old age, will conclude the program. In his music, Strauss illustrates the struggles and turmoil, the joy and sadness, the successes and failures, and finally the transcendence of a life fully lived.

Tickets are $23 for adults, $20 for students and seniors, and can be purchased in advance by visiting the website: http://www.fvso.org. There will be no charge for children 17 and younger, but they do require a ticket. All ticket purchases at the door will be $25. Further information is available at the website or by calling 800-975-FVSO.

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